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Mrs. Amanda Jackson was born a slave. She is unable to give her age but she can tell of some of the conditions, etc. on the plantation where she lived. Following are the things that she remembers most vividly:
"I was born in Glasscock county 'bout twelve miles fum Davisboro, Ga. My marster's name was Lowry Calhoun--he did'nt have mo chillun--jes' him an' his wife an' her mother. He wus a rich man ah' he had a big plantation an' 'bout fifty slaves or more--I 'members de big quarters in de back o' his house, where me an' de res' o' de slaves lived, an how we uster git up an' do 'roun."
"Besides me I had two sisters an' one brother--Iwuz de younges' child."
"All of de slaves on de plantation worked in de fiel'--even de cook--dat is 'till time fer her to cook de meals. On dis plantation dey raised practically everything--corn, cotton, wheat, an' rye, an' a heap o' live stock. Dey was runnin' 'bout twenty-five or thirty plows all de time. Dere was one overseer."
"Every mornin' de slaves had to git up an' by de time it was light enuff to see dey had to be in de fiel' workin' ". When asked how they were awakened Mrs. Jackson replied: "Dey knowed how to git you up alright---de overseer had a horn dat he blowed an' dem dat did'nt wake up when de horn was blowed was called by some of de others in de quarters". Continuing, she said: "Dey was in de fiel' fore de sun rose an' dere' till after it went down--fum sun to sun". "De fiel' han's had one hour fer dinner--dem dat had families done dere own cookin' an' dere was a special cook fer de single ones. De women whut had families would git up soon in de mornin's 'fore time to go to de fiel' an' put de meat on to boil an' den dey would come in at dinner to come in at dinner time an' put de vegetables in de pot to cook an' when dey come home in de evenin' dey would cook some corn bread in de ashes at de fireplace".
"All dat I could do den was sweep de yards, water de cows an' de chickens an' den go to de pasture to git de cows an' de calves--we had two pastures--- one fer de calves an' one fer de cows. I had to git de cows so de womens could milk 'em."
"All of de hard work on de plantation was done in de summertime. In rainy weather an' other bad weather all dat dey had to do was to shell corn an' to help make cloth. As a rule ol' marster was pretty gook to his slaves but sometimes some of 'em got whupped kinda bad fer not workin' an' stuff like dat--I seen 'im cut womens on dey shoulders wid a long whip 'till it looked like he was gonna cut de skin off'n 'im."
"You had to do yo' own work on Saturdays an' Sundays--I 'members seeing my po' mother wash her clothes on Sundays many times. We did'nt have no holidays except Sundays an' den we did'nt have nowhere to go except to church in de woods under a Bush-arbor".
"De white folks clothes an' all o' de slaves clothes was all made on de plantation. De marster's wife could sew an' she an' her mother an' some of de slaves done all o' de spinning an' weaving on de place. I've worked many a day in de house where dey made de cloth at. To color de clothes dey made dyes out o' all kinds o' barks. If dey wanted yellow stripes dey used dye made out o' hickory bark. Dere was always plenty o' clothes fer everybody 'cause dey give two complete outfits two times a year--one in de summer an' one in de winter. Fer blankets we used homspun spreads."
"Even de shoes was made on de plantation--dere was a man on de place dat made all o' de shoes. Dey was made out o' cowhide an' was very stiff. You had to grease 'em to wear 'em an' after you done dat you could do pretty well. De clothes dat dey wore on Sunday was'nt no different fum de ones dat dey wore in de week--dey did'nt have nowhere to go on Sundays unless dey had services somewhere in de woods."
"Dere was always plenty to eat 'cause dey raised everything dat you c'n think of. Dere was all kinds o' vegetables an' big fiel's of hogs an' 'bout fifteen or twenty head' a cattle dat had to be milked everyday. Dem dat had families got a issue o' food everyday an' de others whut was single was fed at de cookhouse. De only time we ever got biscuits was on Sundays---de res' o' de time we et cornbread. Marster had two smokehouses--one fer de lard an' one fer de meat. Besides des he 'lowed de slaves to raise dere own vegetables in dey wanted to but dey could'nt raise no chickens on stuff like det".
"De place where de slaves lived was in de back o' de white folks house. Dey called it de "quarters". Dere was lotsa log cabins kinda 'ranged 'roun in a sorta circle an all of 'em had big dirt chimneys on de outside. Dem holes in de walls was stopped up wid dried mud to keep de weather out. Fer furniture dey jes' nailed up anything--dere was a bench or two an' a few boards nailed together fer a bed. De mattress was a big tickin' stuffed wid straw or dried grass. Some of de houses had big iron pots so dat dey could cook if dey wanted to. De fireplaces was big ones an dey had racks in de inside of 'em so dat de pots could hang dere when dey was cookin'. De only light dat dey had was de firelight--don't care how hot it was--if you wanted to see you had to make a fire in de fireplace, De floors in all de cabins was made wid wood.
"Hardly anybody even got sick on de plantation. When dey was sick de white lady would come out once in a while to see how you was gittin' 'long. If anybody was very sick de doctor would come on his horse an' bring his medicine wid 'im when he come. When you was sick like dis somebody fum de fiel' would stay in an' do de nursin'. All de medicine I 'members is big blue mass pills an' salts- dey would give you des fer anything. When you was too sick to go to de fiel' an' not sick enuff to be in bed you had to report to de white lady at de house--she could tell pretty much if you was sick an' she would work on you--if you did'nt git better den she would send fer de doctor."
"On des plantation dey did'nt have no regular church fer de slaves an' so when de weather was good de slaves went to de woods an' had church in a bush-arbor. Dey made a bush -arbor by takin' some posts an' puttin' lem in de groun' an' de coverin' de top wid bushes. Later on dey had a shelter covered wid boards. De prechin' was done by a ol' man dey called Caesar--he was too ol' to do anything else an' so prechin' was de biggis' thing he done."
"My marster never did sell any o' his slaves--'course if dey wanted to go to somebody else he'd let 'um go p'vided de one dey wanted to go to paid fer 'em. He let one or two go like dat once. Other folks uster put'em on de block an' sell 'em like dey would a chicken or sumpin' like dat."
"Dere was'nt much whuppin on our plantation--not by de marster. Dey usually got whupped fer not workin'. Others got whupped by de Paddie-Rollers when dey was cot off'n de plantation widout a pass. Dey would come to de plantation an' whup you if dey knowed you had been off wid out a pass. Des man whose plantation we was on did pretty well by us--he did'nt like fer de Paddie-Rollers to come on his place to do no whuppin!."
In reply to a query regarding the possibility of a slave buying his freedom Mrs. Jackson replied: "De only ones I knowed to go free was some whose marsters willed 'em enuff money to buy deyself out an' dey was mighty few".
"Continuing Mrs. Jackson said: "When de Yankee soldiers come through we had to fit busy an' hide all de meat an' de other food dat us in de smokehouse so dat de soldiers would'nt take it."
"My mother an' father stayed on de plantation a long time after freedom was declared".
(Ga)
